Thursday, December 26, 2013

Christmas in Traverse City

Our holiday started on Christmas Eve Day with an early dinner at Bud's sister's house across the road.   When we arrived all the 'young ones' were in the hot tub.enjoying the winter scene and lots of fun.
 David decided to show me how 'tough' he is by hitting the snowbank for a crisp cooling off.
 He didn't stay there long.
 Back in to the tub he went.   I was impressed.
 Patty, Bud's step-sister came over.  We hadn't seen her in quite a while so it  was nice to catch up.
 Charlotte's boyfriend David was there for a  while.  The family had been out sledding before hot tubbing do maybe the hot tub was a good way to warm up.
 Ringo was part of the party activities.  Brittany and  John left their dogs in Ludington so Ringo didn't need to defend his territory.
 Megan and Tyler took some time off from their studies to spend a little time with us.  It was great to see them.
 Walt made a great dinner.
 We gathered and talked.
 Charlotte and  Uncle Bud
 Another group gathered in the kitchen.
 Family and friends together.
 A bright smile from Jack.
 The Christmas story was read and the family left for church.  Bud and I stayed behind and did the clean up.
 Christmas morning we were back, fixing breakfast for the family.  French toast was on the menu.
 LOTS of presents and lots of paper for Ringo to play with.
 Many smiles and beautiful faces.

 One of David's cousins in Green Bay had his name and bought him this sweater.  I think he only needs a cigar and he would fit right in with Hugh Heffner.
 The French toast was womderful.  Bud is really good at fixing this breakfast.
 A little more catching up after breakfast.  Brittany and   john are living in Chicago now.  John is working at  a law firm and Brittany is interviewing for her 'match' for internship and residency since this is her last year of medical school.
 It doesn't matter how old you get the toys are still fun.
Jack's remote control camera was a source of fun but Ringo didn't like it.

Believe it or not, we went back in the evening for ANOTHER great meal.  We were quite the moochers this Christmas but it was great.  We are thankful that they live so close and that we have such a great relationship with all of them.

My family will be nest and I am looking forward to seeing all of them.  My wrist hurts so will stop now.







































Sunday, December 22, 2013

The week in Review

I am getting much better at getting around one handed and left handed.  
Thursday of this past week I even 'hit the highway' for a long distance trip to Coleman,  Some of you my know that we ran onto a few 'snags' with Leo"s house and I was 'playing hardball' with the company that REALLY messed some things up when they set the house on its foundation.  They sure hustled to fix things this past week and we were ready to hand over the final payment.  I drove down to be there when w e met  with the owner of the company and the incompetent contractor.  Both Leo and  I wondered if he would show or just send his salesman again.  WELL, he did 'man up' and come to get the check himself.  He also sat in Leo's house and took a severe scolding from both of us.  I gave him my best ;I am disappointed with your work' speech.  My 35 years of teaching experience gave me a LOT of expertise and experience with that speech so I really gave it to him.  I am sure that by the time he left he was sorry that he ever heard of the two of us but most of our problems were solved AND he was very sure that our problems were a result of the fact that he didn't supervise the job properly.  
 Leo's new bed arrived while I was there so I helped him make it up so he could move to sleeping on a bed.  He has been sleeping on the floor in his apartment or the sofa at his new house for a week or so.  However, when  I talked to him the day after his bed was delivered he said he hadn't made it to the bed because he fell asleep on the sofa.  This is one of my quilts.  I am hoping that he uses it all the time instead of just putting it on the guest bed.  Right now he doesn't have a guest bed but we have plans to give him our full size bed and buying a queen size one for our guest room.  
 I took one last picture before leaving.   It is a pretty location  and I feel a GREAT feeling of accomplishment with this project but most of all I am so happy that Leo is back in our family community.  
 This morning we woke up to still another snowstorm.  I heard recently that we have only had 2 days since Thanksgiving that we haven't received snow.  It has been quite a winter so far  and winter hasn't officially started yet.  I have a feeling that it is going to be a hard winter this year.  
 My arm is healing and in a strong cast so I am getting a bit better at moving and doing things (notice I have managed to use the shift key and capitalize words now).  I also managed to wrap presents AND put bows on them.  We are ready for the Christmas gift giving.
 Bud has one of his gifts to himself all ready for a new season of motorcycling this summer.

I can't remember all the things he had done to his Harley but it is all 'gussied' up (probably not a good description for work on a Harley).  If you see him, be sure to ask him to show you his pictures and explain all the new 'extras' that he had put on this bike.  Many of the new additions were things that came with the bike when he bought it but some things were new.  Anyway, he is happy and ready for the summer.  ME, I am just waiting to get my cast off so I can get back to my sewing projects.  I miss sewing a LOT.

So, there you have it, the week in review which includes accomplishments, scoldings  and lots of snow.


Monday, December 16, 2013

And the beat goes on


 the world continues to spin and we humble humans keep moving forward.  the sun is shining here today, shining on the fresh layers of snow that covered everything this last weekend and the weeks before.  we have a lot of snow this year and it ts only December.
 OK, the winter weather report is finished.  now on to the other news.  this past weekend bud and i went down to Coleman to meet with the company that supplied Leo's house.  we are in a battle with them over foundation support issues, plumbing pipes that were cut and not repaired and foundation height issues.  it seems that the contractor that we hired isn't doing a very good job.  Leo has been down in the crawl space trying to hook up the TV antenna and he was the one that discovered the issue of the house not resting on the cement block supports properly, a pipe that goes from one bathroom to the septic tank was cut when they set the house on the foundation and not reconnected so anything coming out of that bathroom was draining i to the crawl space.  we are lucky that Leo had not used that bathroom.  our meeting with the company representative went fine.  i told them that they weren't going to get their final payment until everything is fixed.  they told me that they wanted to 'lock' us out of the house and i told them that wasn't going to happen so they just left without their money and Leo has moved in.  I WON THAT ROUND and they found out you just don't mess around with the Lewis women.  

after the little battle with the house company we drove over to mt. pleasant for lunch and to help Leo get a new bed. he tried out a couple and got a great deal on a new on that will be delivered this Thursday.  in the meantime he has our old sofa to sleep on.  it is pretty comfortable.
 things are looking good in his new house.  he has managed to tune in CBS on his antenna so he can watch something more than PBS so things are moving along.
 on our way home we stopped at an unfinished furniture store and found some tables and shelves that we want to put in our living room.  it eas a great little shop just outside of Clare and the do a great job of finishing the furniture they order so we will be buying new tables from them.
 bud rearranged the furniture in our living room and we both love this new arrangement with the recliners facing the fireplace.
we still have a lot of work to do to finish this space but we feel that we are off to a great start with the new furniture.

so, the beat goes on.  we continue to work on getting Leo his house set up, our living room is looking good and Wednesday i am going to the doctor to have my arm checked out.  i hope it is healing well.

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

healing but still accident prone or maybe just stupid

last friday i went under the knife.  still no capital letters.  (it is too hard to stretch my fingers to get caps)
 i was informed that i looked very mad when i was in the emergency room in my previous posting.  this time i was more ready for the picture so i could smile  (just as an aside, eva said that the last time she saw me looking that mad was right after we went canoeing and fell in right at the end and didn't take any dry clothes.  the other time was when we were stranded in toranto on our way back from paris and i thought this lady was going to get a seat and i thought we were there first)  maybe it was the drugs talking.  anyway, all went well and i have a plate in my arm.  i go back on the 18th and see the doctor.  i am off my pain meds during the day and actually drove across town to a meeting today and went out to buy groceries.  t REALLY miss sewing though.
 on the way home i asked bud to stop and get me a latte.  it was FANTASTIC.  i spent the weekend sleeping, reading a little and watching tv but mostly sleeping.  good drugs will do that to you. bud lent me one of his shirts so i even looked fairly presentable but maybe that was the drugs too.
NOW for the stupid part.  i have given up most of my diet pop drinks but i drink a lot of cold tea,  t have been making it in this juice container for a long time but sunday when i poured the boiling water in the container it burst open and created quite a mess.  i thought the container was just old so i tried it again today with a different container but i got the same results.  SO,  lesson learned, DO NOT pour very hot water in to a glass pitcher.  i am going to have to go looking for a new container.  meanwhile i am using a plastic pitcher.  the orst thing that could happen is i melt it.

GREAT NEWS   we have occupancy for leo's house.  we are going down on saturday to help complete the final paperwork.  it has been a long process but he now has a new place to live, back in the community with family.  i was hiping to get it done by the end of summer but before christmas is good too.  he will spend his first night there on friday.  NOW, i just have a few other things to get wrapped up like new beds and a water softener but we have time for that. this past year with leo has been a journey,
with its ups and downs but i am VERY thankful for our time together and the time we have been given for the future because of his treatment success.
blessings for a new year

Thursday, December 5, 2013

gifts

 first of all, no caps will occur in this post since holding down the 'caps' button and typing is almost impossible.  it takes all my 'hunt and peck' skills to type this post but i am sure my audience will forgive me.  (ok i know there is a VERY limited audience but this does give me something to do)

sunday bud and i went to coleman for the lewis family christmas gathering.  i used this as an opportunity to put the christmas wreath on mom and dad's graves. bud picked out this beautiful wreath.  i think it looks great.  my daughterly duty was accomplished for another season,
 the family gathering was sparsely attended but every family had someone represented.  this is a gathering of my dad's family from his generation down.

 these two pictures are of my generation that was in attendance,  11 out of 24 i think.  this is the second year i have attended with a cast.  not a good record for me.
 aunt florence is the oldest one still around and VERY active and healthy.  uncle vernell is next in birth order but for the first time in many years he didn't attend.  he hasn't been feeling very well lately.  he has some heart blockages and he decided that he didn't want to undergo open heart surgery.
 the 2 'gems' of the family, aunt kathleen is the youngest and she walks 2 miles
every day.
aunt mary, uncle elmer's wife, was there too.  a year ago was the last time i saw uncle elmer.

SO, the gifts of family.  that strong lewis love has made me a blessed woman and i am VERY THANKFUL.

my other gift i have received this week may require some of that strength.  i went to my doctor about my arm on tuesday and it ISN'T healing straight. friday i am going in for surgery to have a plate and pins inserted so it will heal in the correct position.  this will stabalize the boned and make it heal more quickly so that is positive.  wish me luck.